The Power of One

Matthew 13:33 He told them still another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough."

Jesus uses the description of what yeast can do to describe the kingdom of Heaven. God’s presence and blessings can come into a community of faith through the words and actions of others. It is like yeast, it grows and affects the whole community. Look around the sanctuary and smile and watch the smile grow, first one face, then another and another and another, until most of the body of Christ gathered in that place is blessed with that infectious smile. Our action statement for “serve” in our mission statement is to “Reach out, Serve, and Incite miracles.” There is no better description of what the yeast of service can do. Someone becomes passionate about a particular ministry and soon there are gathered around that one, others who have seen the passion rise within them because of the excitement of the one. Soon ministry is happening and the blessing flows out to not only those being served, but even more so to the ones doing the serving as well as the body of Christ from which they come. It is the power of One. Over the summer we have been blessed by having many individuals stepping forth for service. Some have preached and led worship, others have brought snacks, played music, watered flowers and pulled weeds and still others have mowed lawns and changed light bulbs, and then there is Doug, the one man dynamo who makes 90% of what happens around here happen. Each one has contributed not only in the work they have done, but even more so in the atmosphere they have created and the lessons they have passed on to the younger ones in this community of faith.

Matthew 16:5 When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. 6"Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

This is another kind of yeast story from Jesus. It is a warning. For all the good one person can do, there is a danger of what one can do. It is the “no” sayers, their general concern is what others are doing wrong rather than what they can do right. That is some of us all of the time and all of us some of the time. In the Gospel for September 10th, Mark 7:24-37 we find the story of the Syrophoenician Woman. She was an outsider, a nobody, and to the disciples just one more beggar at the feet of their master, Jesus. When Jesus gets sharp with her, the disciples are right there egging him on, being “no” sayers, drumming up the negative, trying to set limits on God’s love and power. Then with a “fish on” move Jesus turns the tables on the disciples, using this strong woman to show the disciples that their motives were a bit fishy.

Don’t ever underestimate the power of what God can do, and don’t ever underestimate the power of what God can do through one person, and don’t ever underestimate what God can do through you. Follow your passion and allow the Lord to work through you as you, just one person, reach out, serve and incite miracles, and discover that the greatest miracle of all is what happens inside your heart.